Interesting Facts about Women and Doctorate Degrees

Women have come a long way in the past couple of decades. They are constantly breaking records, changing the narrative when it comes to gender equality and working to change the status quo. These victories have also been extended to the education sector with more and more women obtaining higher levels of education. In regards to doctorate degrees, the number of women to be awarded them has continued to grow over the years. This show that women are becoming increasingly interested in furthering their education and are breaking down the barriers that may stand in the way of them doing so. This article takes a look at three interesting facts about women and doctorate degrees.

Growth

The number of women in education has noticeably increased over the last couple of years. Apparently, the number of young women who enrolled in college has exceeded the enrollment rate for young men and the gap is still widening. As of 2005, women made up over 57% of the college attendees in American colleges, in regards to doctorate degrees, in 2016, a survey carried out by the Survey of Earned Doctorates found that 25,278 doctorate degrees were awarded to women in the United States. This is a considerable increase seeing as in 2011, the figure was 22,700. It is encouraging to now that more women are gaining access to education. If more interestingly, it’s great to know they’re finding ways to fund their education.

Online Education

When having children, women are usually expected to take care of the child more so than the men, whose paternity leave is much shorter. However, women nowadays have the option to continue with their lives due to the rise of online activity; they can work remotely, or if they are in school, then they can continue their education through a doctorate degree online. Online education may also be becoming increasingly appealing due to how flexible it is to work around being employed and family life.

Funding

Following on from the previous point relating to growth, how women fund their doctorate degrees is also interesting. It was found that women were nearly twice as likely as men (20.2 percent to 11.1 percent) to say they financially supported themselves throughout the course of their doctorate degree in 2015. This could be as a result of the fierce competition to obtain funding such as scholarship or grants. Perhaps it is also a lack of awareness regarding the funding options available for women.

As the saying goes, Rome wasn’t built in a day, so it may take more time before gender inequality is a thing of the past. Since gender inequality is said to be one of the causes and effects of poverty, it is refreshing to hear that more women are being given the opportunity to get educated. Education is one of many ways out of poverty for these women as it is a stepping-stone to achieving greater heights and gaining the knowledge needed to do so.

The world as we know it is changing and we’re beginning to live in a world where women’s presence is felt in the workplace, in the home and in education.

Thanks to Eleonora